Electric Potential
by Kodiak Bear Country
Summary: [COMPLETE] SG-1 find a device left behind by the Ancients and bring it home.
1. PX7388

Author's Note: Aside from the usual, this story takes place in season four'ish. Spoilers for basically The Fifth Race. This is not an AU, although it does deal with the Ancients, it is going to be a stand-alone and not have any impact on the developments in season seven and eight.

* * *

**Electric Potential**

* * *

**Chapter one **

**PX7-388**

* * *

"...and that's why I think it would be worth a visit." Daniel Jackson stared earnestly at General Hammond, a pen touching the screen, waiting for an answer.  
  
"Daniel, it's a pole." Jack replied evenly. He was sitting slouched in the oversized black chair, long legs stretched, and fingers tapping against the file lying in front of him on the mahogany table.  
  
"It's a pole with Ancient on it Jack." Daniel replied back, just as evenly.  
  
"Well, there's that..." Jack tapped his pen on the folder, "What good has any planet with Ancient culture done for us yet? We _still_ don't have that magic weapon that is going to keep the bad guys away."  
  
"Are you saying you think this is a waste of time Colonel?" General Hammond asked from his position at the head of the table.  
  
Jack paused, watching Daniel. He sighed, "No General." _No more than any other time_.  
  
"We may find minerals we can use." Major Sam Carter added, from her position next to Daniel.  
  
Jack grimaced. "Yeah...yeah. Bring plenty of those little sample baggies of yours."  
  
Carter smiled, "Sample containers." She corrected, knowing full well he knew the technical term.  
  
General Hammond's face twitched in a half-smile, "Teal'c, do you recall this planet from your time with Apophis?"  
  
The large man sitting to O'Neill's right acknowledged the question with an almost imperceptible tilt of his head, "I do not General Hammond."  
  
Hammond rolled his chair back and stood, "Then you have a go SG-1."  
  
"_Yes_ General." Jack dropped his pen, and rolled his own chair backwards, "_Thank_ you General." Hammond headed to his office leaving the four teammates now all standing.  
  
"It's worth it Jack." Daniel tried to bundle his files into a neat stack.  
  
"That remains to be seen." Jack reached over and took the folders from Daniel and quickly shepherded the papers into military order then handed them over to his bemused friend, "We'll leave in an hour, don't be late." He ambled from the briefing room, followed by Teal'c.  
  
Daniel looked at Carter, "That went better than I thought it would."  
  
Sam agreed, "He must have been in a good mood. Let's go get geared up, you don't want to push it by being late."  
  
"Tell me about it."

* * *

"Welcome to PX7-388, please return your seats and trays to the upright position and prepare for...boredom." Jack readjusted his P-90. His team stood behind him, everyone adjusting weapons and clothes after the wormhole ride to their new location.  
  
"It looks uninhabited." Carter observed, sweeping her eyes across the landscape.  
  
O'Neill agreed. The Stargate was situated at the base of a rolling hill. Long stalks of grass-like vegetation covered the ground. A slight breeze blew, causing the plants to bend and sway in a manner that reminded him of that Little House on the Prairie show. It wouldn't have surprised him to see a little girl in pigtails come running across the meadow. "Looks like Nebraska."  
  
"It does." Daniel said, stepping even with Jack. "Kind of spooky actually."  
  
"Spooky?" Teal'c's eyebrow arched at Daniel Jackson.  
  
"It looks like we gated to another state instead of another planet Teal'c. It's weird...spooky." Daniel explained.  
  
"I don't know, I kind of like it." Carter was pulling at a stalk of the grass, "It's pretty."  
  
"If you go for that overgrown weed look." Jack twisted to look back towards the Gate, "Where's your pole Daniel?"  
  
Daniel stepped a few feet ahead and cupped his hand over his eyes, shielding them from the glare of the sunlight, "The UAV has it at two miles that way." He pointed straight ahead.  
  
"Carter, get your...sample containers." Jack resisted the urge to call them baggies again, "Teal'c, you take point, I'll take our six."  
  
The team spread out, Teal'c in the lead, Carter then Daniel followed by O'Neill. They walked in quiet for the first mile.  
  
"Do you think the Ancients had an outpost here?" Carter asked, breaking the silence.  
  
"Doesn't seem to be their typical location." Daniel said.  
  
"Not even close." O'Neill reached down to pull at a stalk that had wedged it's way into his pant leg, a barbed section scratching against him. "They usually go for that advanced technical look."  
  
Carter looked back, "Sir?"  
  
"It's nothing. The grass appears to have teeth."  
  
Teal'c had paused, waiting for the others. "Grass does not have teeth O'Neill."  
  
"Look for yourself." Jack held up one of the errant stalks.  
  
Carter leaned forward, studying the thin barbs. "It's got teeth."  
  
"Leave it to Jack to find a man-eating grass." Daniel joked.  
  
Jack rolled his eyes, "This coming from someone who could find trouble in an empty room."  
  
"Was it not you, O'Neill, who managed to find trouble in an empty room?" Teal'c asked, his face unreadable. "When you had the knowledge of the Ancient's downloaded into your mind?"  
  
"Cute Teal'c." Jack gave a painful half-smile, "Just...walk." He gestured for them to get back on the move.

* * *

"I think I see it ahead." Daniel pointed to a tall gun-metal gray object rising above the horizon.  
  
They stopped again. Jack guessed it was another ten minutes walk. "Carter, this is as good a place as any. Get your samples, Daniel and I will go check out this pole thing. Teal'c, give Carter a hand." He ordered. He didn't wait for a response, but began moving towards the object.  
  
"Don't stick your head near it." Daniel took extra long strides to get caught up with Jack.  
  
"Very funny."  
  
"I thought so."  
  
"You think you can read it?" Jack looked at his friend; "I don't think we can take it home with us." The object was huge. As they approached the base of the pole they realized it was twice as tall as the UAV had led them to believe.  
  
"No...I don't think we can." Daniel set his pack down and approached the pole.  
  
"Don't touch anything." Jack dropped his own pack, but kept his P-90 ready.  
  
"I won't." He replied absently, staring at the inscriptions etched into the dull surface, "It's definitely Ancient."  
  
"What does it say?"  
  
"I don't know." Daniel walked around the pole, which couldn't have been more than two feet in diameter, "I recognize some of these from the time you spoke the language."  
  
Jack stepped forward, despite himself; curious to get a look at the language he had spoken. It looked like all the other languages they came across to him, gibberish. "Don't recognize a thing."  
  
Daniel looked disappointed, "You did say the Asgard took it all back."  
  
"And apparently they did a good job. I'll have to tell Thor thank you." Jack decided there wasn't any imminent danger, and slung his P-90 down beside his pack, dropping himself beside it.  
  
"Get your...pictures...scratchings...whatever it is you do." He said, leaning into his pack and stretching his frame as far as he could, relishing the feeling.  
  
"And you do whatever it is you do." Daniel muttered, reaching for his camera and pencil.  
  
"I heard that."

* * *

"Sir, we're ready to go." Carter's voice floated above him.  
  
He opened his eyes, and pushed his cap back off his face, "Daniel?"  
  
"He's finishing up now."  
  
Jack pushed himself back up, and looked at his watch. Two hours. Not bad.  
  
"Find anything promising?"  
  
Carter shook her heard, "No Sir."  
  
Damn. It was going to be another galactic waste of time. He walked towards the pole but found himself flat on his back, staring at the very dark blue sky.  
  
"What just happened?" He asked, lying still, making sure all his parts still worked.  
  
Daniel's face peered over him, "You fell."  
  
"Daniel..." Jack warned.  
  
A hand offered help up. He reached up and grasped Daniel's wrists, pulling himself back to his feet, "What did I trip on?"  
  
"O'Neill, I believe this is the source of your fall." Teal'c held a small black ball in his hand.  
  
They crowded around, staring at the small object. It was no bigger than a tennis ball, and had similar etchings as the pole. "It appears to be Ancient as well." Teal'c announced.  
  
"_That_ we can take home." O'Neill reached for the ball, tossing it gingerly in his hands, "It's light."  
  
"Uh...Jack?"  
  
"Daniel?"  
  
"Maybe you shouldn't...toss that."  
  
"What could possibly happen? It's a tennis ball Daniel. Probably little Ancient guys ran around here hitting this ball back and forth thousands of years ago." Jack gave it one more throw then tossed it to Daniel.  
  
Daniel caught it smoothly, "You don't know that."  
  
"Sir, Daniel's right, we probably should be careful. We don't know what it does." Carter took the ball from Daniel, taking a turn examining the object.  
  
"All right kids, let's take our toy and get home. I'm sure the General will be thrilled that we actually found something." Jack grabbed his pack, and waited for the others to get situated. "Who knows, maybe it's a communications...thing."  
  
"Just don't put it too close to your head..."  
  
"Daniel!" 


	2. Shocking Discovery

Author's Note: Slight spoiler in this chapter for Message in a Bottle.

* * *

**Chapter two **

**Shocking Discovery**

* * *

"What does it do?" Sergeant Siler was standing next to Daniel Jackson, peering owlishly through his thick lenses at the black ball.  
  
Daniel pulled his eyes off the screen he was studying, "I don't know...yet."  
  
"Looks like a tennis ball."  
  
"So I've heard." Daniel adjusted his body in his chair, grimacing as the papers on his lap dropped to the floor and scattered, "Don't you have something to do?"  
  
Siler straightened from his position hunched over the ball, "Oh...yeah. Didn't you call in a power problem?"  
  
Daniel frowned, pausing while picking up his papers, "I think I did. Hang on..." Daniel tried to remember. It had been twelve hours since SG-1 had gated back with their ball. He had been working on the translations since, getting by with coffee and the occasional doughnut snatched from the commissary. He finished gathering the files, "I remember. That lamp over there...it keeps flickering. It's annoying."  
  
Siler grunted, and carried his tools over to the desk where the lamp hung. He started digging through his items.  
  
Daniel flinched with every loud bang of metal on metal, then a few moments of quiet would tick by, disturbed again by loud clinks and clanks.  
  
"Could you _possibly_ be any louder?" He asked, twisting his head to glare at Siler.  
  
Siler shrugged, "Sorry Dr. Jackson. I'll be done in a few minutes."  
  
"Figured it out?" Jack had arrived at Daniel's office and now leaned casually against the doorjamb.  
  
"Maybe I could if everyone would stop interrupting me."  
  
"I think someone needs to quit spending the night staring at little black balls."  
  
Daniel was going to reply, something scathing and hopefully rude, but the thought occurred to him that Jack was probably right. It didn't make him happier. "I'm going to get some breakfast." He stood up, grabbed his outer shirt off the back of his chair, "Want to come?"  
  
Jack was about to reply when Siler's voice interrupted, "That's okay Dr. Jackson, I've got to finish up here and then head over to the gateroom. Something about a light malfunctioning..."  
  
Jack closed his half-open mouth, and he and Daniel shared a bemused smile.  
  
"Uh, maybe next time Siler." Daniel replied, and mouthed, _I hope not_, in Jack's direction. The only answer was another loud clank.

* * *

"It might as well be a tennis ball. I've managed to isolate a few characters but I don't think I'm going to get much else. At least not anytime soon." Daniel lifted a forkful of waffles.  
  
"To bad the Colonel doesn't speak Ancient anymore." Carter said, spooning yogurt.  
  
"The _Colonel_ doesn't agree." Jack sighed, pushing his bowl of cereal away. Fruit loops didn't seem appealing after all.  
  
Daniel looked at Jack's bowl of fruit loops then back up at Jack, "As much as I'd love to know what it says, I have to agree with Jack."  
  
Carter leaned forward on her elbows after setting aside the yogurt; "You have to admit, it would've been helpful if the Asgard could have taken the rest but left his language capabilities."  
  
"I do not think that would have been wise Major Carter." Teal'c intoned.  
  
"Come on! We could've had our own Ancient interpreter." Carter persisted.  
  
Jack snorted, "One language geek is enough for SG-1."  
  
"If I wasn't so tired, I'd take offense to that." Daniel sipped his coffee.  
  
"In your case Daniel, geek is a term of affection." Jack poured his own cup of coffee. "I guess I should finish up those reports." He didn't make any attempt at moving.  
  
"O'Neill, do you not need to return to your office to accomplish such a task?"  
  
"Your point?"  
  
Teal'c offered a hint of a smile and remained quiet.  
  
"All right. I'm going. But don't blame me if you all get bored when I'm gone." Jack warned, pushing back his chair and standing.  
  
"Perish the thought." Daniel took another bite of waffles. "Have fun." He mumbled with a mouthful of food.  
  
"Yeah. Right." Jack left the commissary, intending to head to his office to actually work on those reports, but instead found himself moving in the direction of Daniel's office. The black ball had been intriguing. Having had the knowledge previously, he was oddly drawn to the object, but hadn't admitted it earlier. He'd just take a quick look and then get to those reports.  
  
He leaned in the room, no Siler. He saw the ball resting on a foam pad on Daniel's counter. It really did look like a black tennis ball minus the fuzz. And of course all that writing scratched on it.  
  
He lifted it, and rotated it in his palm. It was smooth as a stone rubbed soft by the endless strength of a river. He traced the etching with his thumb, following the pattern. There was a bright flash, and Jack O'Neill slumped to the ground.

* * *

"He's coming round." A voice spoke above him, filtering into his muddled thoughts. Jack lifted an arm and draped it over his eyes, attempting to block the light.  
  
"Colonel...do you know where you are?"  
  
He recognized that voice. Doctor Fraiser. He groaned. "Infirmary."  
  
"Good. Do you remember what happened?"  
  
Jack cracked his eyes, "No."  
  
Fraiser leaned over O'Neill, assessing his vitals, "Give yourself a moment." She cautioned.  
  
"You were in my office Jack." Daniel was sitting in a hard chair by the head of Jack's bed, "I found you there after breakfast." He didn't mention how scary it was to find your best friend unconscious on the floor of your office.  
  
Jack was rapidly returning to alertness, "I wasn't in your office."  
  
"Yes, you were." Daniel insisted.  
  
"No...I wasn't." Jack countered.  
  
"Were."  
  
"Wasn't."  
  
"Colonel..." Fraiser interrupted the two, "You _were_ in Daniel's office, and I'd like to know what happened."  
  
Jack looked from Fraiser's concerned features to Daniel's, "You tell me."  
  
"You don't remember?" She pressed.  
  
"Apparently not."  
  
"What's the last thing you do remember?" She slid a hand under his upper back, helping him get into a sitting position, as he struggled to do it himself and failed, still weak from whatever had happened.  
  
"Watching Daniel stuff himself with waffles." Jack grimaced. His muscles ached, painfully.  
  
Daniel frowned, "You left. You said you were going to work on reports."  
  
Now it was Jack's turn to frown, "Reports? I never work on reports."  
  
Janet lifted the clipboard from Jack's bed and made a note, "I don't know what happened but you seem fine now."  
  
"I can go?" Jack seemed surprised.  
  
"No...not yet." Janet almost laughed at the look of slight despair, "Just a few more tests and _then_ if they check out you can go...but stay on base. Until I find out what happened I don't want you leaving."  
  
Daniel stood up, stretching, "I'm going to go give Teal'c and Sam an update on you."  
  
"Where are they?"  
  
"Searching my office for clues as to what happened." Daniel stared at his friend, "You really don't remember?"  
  
"Not a thing."  
  
"Take it easy, I'll be back." Daniel headed off in search of the other two members of SG-1.  
  
Jack sighed, and closed his eyes. His body really did ache. Fraiser was watching him, he could feel her eyes taking in every movement of his, and he knew that she knew he was hurting.  
  
"Get some rest Colonel." She said softly. He heard the soft pad of her feet as she headed off to check on other patients. He decided rest was probably a good idea, and soon was fast asleep.

* * *

"Do you have any idea what happened to Colonel O'Neill?" General Hammond asked. He was sitting at the briefing table, along with Major Carter, Daniel Jackson, Teal'c and Doctor Fraiser.  
  
"Yes...and no." Janet answered; O'Neill's file open in front of her.  
  
Hammond frowned, "Which is it Doctor?"  
  
"All of the Colonel's tests indicate he suffered some type of electrical shock." She flipped through some pages, "But I don't know how or what did it to him."  
  
"Dr. Jackson, is there anything in your office that could explain this?"  
  
Daniel shook his head, bewildered, "Nothing. He was lying on the floor by my counter when I found him."  
  
"The Ancient device was on the floor beside him Daniel Jackson." Teal'c reminded them.  
  
"Yes, but I picked it up and didn't have anything happen."  
  
"And we all handled it on the planet Teal'c. No one has gotten hurt by it." Carter pointed out.  
  
"Figure it out people." Hammond ordered, standing. "Until then, handle that object with care. I don't want a repeat of the last orb we brought home."  
  
Sober faces looked back at him. No one wanted a repeat of that fiasco, remembering O'Neill harpooned to the gateroom for hours, and the entire base almost self-destructing.  
  
"Dismissed." 


	3. Pesky Power Problems

Author's Note: Thanks for the feedback! I try to update daily, although sometimes life gets in the way and it's every 2-3 days, but I will be updating frequently!

* * *

**Chapter 3 **

**Pesky Power Problems**

* * *

Jack finished tucking his black t-shirt in his pants, and hopped off the infirmary bed, grabbing his uniform shirt from the bed behind him. Frasier had released him with a warning to stay on base and come back if he felt anything abnormal. He had irritated her by snapping back that abnormal was all he ever felt since joining the SGC.  
  
"You've been released?"  
  
Jack saw Daniel watching him from the doorway, "Don't you have something your supposed to be doing?"  
  
Daniel dropped his elbow from his front, where he had been holding it against his chest, and straightened, "Yes, I do."  
  
Jack waved impatiently, "Then go...do."  
  
"Your it."  
  
"What?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Never mind." Jack said, exasperated, as he finished buttoning his blue SGC shirt.  
  
Daniel smiled, "Janet wants me to keep an eye on you."  
  
_That sneaky_... "I'm fine." To prove his point, he strode to the door, adding a bounce to his step for emphasis.  
  
Daniel rolled his eyes, "Whatever, come on. Sam's got your tennis ball in her lab, running tests."

* * *

"Teal'c, can you flip the switch over there...this light keeps fritzing." Carter sighed. She was tired of leaning over this ball. It didn't do anything. No EM pulses, nothing poking out, or radiation being emitted. It just sat and stared at her, taunting her lack of progress.  
  
"Fritzing?"  
  
Carter groaned and turned to face her irascible commanding officer, pasting on a cheerful smile, "Sir. I see Janet let you out."  
  
"I'm fine. Thanks for asking." He peered around her shoulder, "What are you doing to it?"  
  
The ball had several electrodes attached, wires running to different machines on her counter.  
  
"I'm looking for any source of power. Any sign that it was responsible for your..."  
  
"Shocking experience?"  
  
"...yes. That." Sam turned back to study a read-out. She tapped the machine. "Damn!"  
  
"Maybe this isn't a good time..." Daniel said, turning back to the door, contemplating an escape.  
  
"Major Carter seems to be experiencing difficulties with her equipment." Teal'c pointed out the obvious.  
  
"Ah...the fritzing comment." Jack pulled a stool over and perched his lanky frame on it. He wasn't going to admit it to anyone but he still felt sore from getting zapped by...whatever had zapped him.  
  
Daniel was watching him carefully, "Maybe you should...."  
  
"No."  
  
"I didn't even finish what I was..."  
  
"No." Jack glared, "I know what you were going to say and the answer is no. I'm fine, I'm not going to lay down, and I don't need to see Frasier." Jack finished, aware as he ended his mini-tirade that Carter and Teal'c were staring at him now. "For crying out loud, all I did was sit down!"  
  
"Indeed."  
  
"Okay, _that's it_. Carter, good luck figuring...black bean out...I still have reports to deal with." He slid off the stool, intent on leaving behind his watchdog.  
  
Daniel went to follow, "Ah..ah." Jack waved his hand, "You stay here and help Carter."  
  
Daniel went to reply but Jack beat him to it, "That's an order." And he stormed out of the room before any protests could be lodged.  
  
"Well...that didn't go so well." Daniel observed.  
  
"Indeed."

* * *

The base lights blinked, stuttered, and went out, dousing the floors of the SGC into a darkness so complete that everyone on the various levels froze wherever they were. Seconds later the loud mechanical clicks signaled emergency power kicking in, and red lights flared on throughout the corridors.  
  
Jack was sitting at his desk typing when the power outage struck. He watched in disbelief as the screen winked out, taking his almost complete report with it. "No!" He hollered at the computer.  
  
The red lights illuminated his office, and then, just as quickly as the power had gone out and emergency power on; the regular power flicked back to life with an electrical groan, almost like an engine with the gas pedal fully throttled, trying to go up a steep grade on a mountain pass.  
  
"What the hell is going on?" He asked aloud. Carter. He would go find Carter. She always knew what was going on.

* * *

"I don't know what happened." A harried looking Major Samantha Carter was studying the readouts on the screen in the gateroom. "There wasn't anything before the power went down. No surge, or drop-off...nothing."  
  
Daniel was standing off to her side, trying to figure out what some of the information actually meant. "That's not supposed to happen...right?"  
  
"No." Sam gestured at the display, "The system is meant to have multiple breakers to prevent overloads, surges, anything. This shouldn't have happened."  
  
Jack waltzed into the gateroom, noting Carter's tense and frustrated state, "What happened?"  
  
Sam twisted in her chair, glared, then turned back to her screen, typing more commands. "The log indicates nothing unusual." She typed one more command, returning the computer to normal mode, and stood up, "If there's an answer, I'm not going to find it here."  
  
"Major Carter, were you not experiencing electrical problems a while ago?" Teal'c asked, remembering the earlier problems in her lab.  
  
Sam pushed her hands in her pockets, and paused, thinking. "Yes, but..."  
  
"Have not all these power fluctuations occurred since we returned from PX7- 388?"  
  
Carter knew where Teal'c was going, but she didn't think it was possible, "Teal'c, I've tested that ball in every possible way. It's nothing but a dead sphere with inscriptions."  
  
"Something got Jack in my office." Daniel bit his lip, thinking. He needed to take a closer look at the surface on the ball.  
  
"It was found beside O'Neill."  
  
"It's a ball. It didn't knock me out and it isn't causing the power to do a bad impression of _The Little Engine that Could_." Jack figured the ball was probably what he had said from the beginning-a child's toy.  
  
"Then how do you explain all of this?" Daniel asked.  
  
"That's not my job." Jack smiled wryly, "Have fun Carter."  
  
"...where are you going...Jack!" Daniel chased after Jack's retreating back. Teal'c inclined his head towards Carter and with hands clasped behind his back retreated from the room, following Jack and Daniel.  
  
"Guys!" Carter called at them. _Thanks_, she thought irritably, and headed off to her lab.

* * *

"Do you think we should've helped her?" Daniel dug his spoon into a bowl of green jello.  
  
"And do what?" Jack asked, "Unless you suddenly sprouted a degree in physics I don't think you can help."  
  
"Moral support?" Daniel offered, sucking the jello off his spoon.  
  
"I believe Major Carter was becoming...irritated...with my moral support." Teal'c lifted his own spoon gingerly, and held his cup of blue jello in his other hand.  
  
"Let's face it, our moral support is about as much help as ..." Jack never finished his sentence because right as he was going to speak, the power dropped with a loud whine as all the mechanical systems came to an abrupt cease of activity, plunging the commissary in darkness.  
  
Again, all personnel froze waiting for the emergency lights to cast its devilish tint to the underground levels...except seconds ticked by and no flare of red came to life.  
  
"Uh...Jack?"  
  
"Yes Daniel?"  
  
"Is this supposed to happen?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Just checking."  
  
"This is most unpleasant."  
  
They sat in the quiet, hearing conversations begin to rise in level around them, as other's realized the emergency lights weren't going to provide any relief.  
  
"Jack?"  
  
"Daniel?"  
  
"Are we just going to sit here?"  
  
Jack sighed. He was getting ready to do something, though he wasn't sure what, when the regular lighting came back on, blinding everyone in the return to full brightness.  
  
Daniel set his jello down, having kept it in his hand from earlier, "Maybe we should go help..." 


	4. A Puzzle

* * *

**Chapter 4 **

**A Puzzle**

* * *

"Sir, can you remember anything from before you woke up in the infirmary?" Carter was hunched over her work counter, wires spread across the top, and the item of attention sitting innocuously in the midst of the chaos.  
  
Jack O'Neill, meanwhile, was sitting nonchalantly on the same stool he had chosen previously, "Yes Carter...I remember eating froot loops."  
  
Teal'c shifted ever so slightly, raising an eyebrow and casting that disapproving look.  
  
Jack sighed, "All right...let me think." He mouthed events, tracing his movements then speaking out loud, "I went to Daniel's office...to look at that thing. I think I might have picked it up."  
  
"Might have?" Daniel asked.  
  
"Okay, I did. I picked it up and I...don't know." Jack ran a hand through his graying hair, frustrated, "I can't remember."  
  
Carter was looking at Jack with sympathy, "I'm sorry Sir...that's better than before. Maybe your memory is coming back?"  
  
"Do you really think it's behind our power problems?" He asked, looking at the ball, feeling that urge to hold it.  
  
Sam started to shake her head no then stopped, "I don't have any better ideas."  
  
As if the machines were following their conversation, power dropped across the base, draping Sam's lab in complete and utter darkness.  
  
"This is nice." Daniel tried to find the door and instead found Teal'c, "Sorry about that." He decided it would probably be safer if he stayed in one place.  
  
"Perhaps you should not try to move." Teal'c seconded Daniel's thought.  
  
The lights powered up and revealed a scene that Carter couldn't have imagined if she had tried. Colonel O'Neill was flat on his back, lying on the floor beside the stool he had been sitting on, clutching the ball in his hand.  
  
"Sir!"  
  
Daniel punched the emergency button, a klaxon sounding. "Don't touch him!" He shouted, when Sam bent down to remove the ball.  
  
Carter hesitated, "Teal'c, give me that rubber rod...across the table."  
  
Teal'c found the rod and handed it over. Carter took it and gingerly pushed at the ball in O'Neill's hand. It rolled out easily; she figured that whatever had happened was no longer active. An active current would have caused his muscles to contract and clench the ball, making it difficult to dislodge from his grip. That was the good news. The bad news was Jack remained unconscious.

* * *

Jack hurt. No, scratch that. He didn't just hurt; his whole being was defined by pain. He felt like he had run a five-day marathon and then ran another five days. _What the hell had happened now?  
_  
He was in bed, the infirmary judging from his discomfort. That meant one of his team was near, probably Daniel. He opened his eyes, blinking back the overwhelming brightness, and found a very blurry dark blob hovering somewhere to his right.  
  
"Daniel?" His voice cracked. _Water_. He needed water.  
  
"Here Jack."  
  
He felt a supporting hand slide under his back, easing his body up into position where he could drink without wearing it. He leaned forward and sipped the cold liquid, relief immediately hitting him. _That felt so good_.  
  
"Thanks." He said, surprised at how weak his voice still sounded.  
  
Daniel was watching him with that look again, like he was going to break any second and all the king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put Jack O'Neill back together again.  
  
"I'm fine."  
  
Daniel grimaced, "If that were true you wouldn't be lying there."  
  
"Okay, I'll _be_ fine." Jack closed his eyes. "It's the ball, isn't it?"  
  
"Looks like it."  
  
"Bet Carter is beside herself."  
  
"Something like that." Daniel set the water glass back down, and settled back into the chair where he had been sitting vigil beside his friend. He wouldn't admit how worried he had been. He didn't have to.  
  
"Bet Fraiser wasn't happy."  
  
Daniel smiled, "Something like that."  
  
Jack opened his eyes again. The ceiling tile stared down at him, white...dingy white...off white, "So what's going on?"  
  
"The power has gone out three times since your...episode. Sam's got that ball in an isolation room but nothing is working. She thinks it's reacting to you because of your run in with the Ancient's."  
  
"Have you figured out what it says?"  
  
Daniel shook his head, "Not really." He didn't need to say part of the reason was all the time in the infirmary sitting watch.  
  
"I think I'm going to sleep some more."  
  
Daniel watched as Jack closed his eyes again and fell into a restive sleep. He leaned back, trying to ease the growing ache at the base of his spine. He heard the soft sound of Janet's feet behind him.  
  
"He woke up. I don't think he felt so good."  
  
Janet came to a stop, standing next to Daniel, crossing her arms and considering the still forms, both on the bed and in the chair, "He'll be okay. A little sleep and he'll be driving us crazy again."  
  
"How many times can he do this?" Daniel wondered why he let the words slip out. It was morbid and a topic generally best left unsaid.  
  
Janet didn't reply but she laid a comforting hand on his shoulder. Before he had time to react, say thank you, or blink, the lights went out. Fraiser muttered a decidedly unprofessional word.

* * *

"General, it's definitely the object we brought from PX7-388. The bad news is that Colonel O'Neill is somehow the catalyst, the good news is that this latest event was recorded. There was a period right as the power came up and the ball was still active." Carter was handing out papers to those grouped around the briefing table. "The papers I'm giving you indicate the frequency and wavelength of the electromagnetic pulses."  
  
"You said it wasn't emitting any energy Major?" Hammond glanced at the paper but knew he wouldn't understand three-fourths of what it said.  
  
Carter nodded, "Yes I did. Whatever it is, it's extremely well shielded. It wasn't until Colonel O'Neill caused the device to activate that I was able to get a reading. Fortunately the electrodes were attached when he did...whatever it was he did."  
  
Hammond frowned, he wasn't happy that his second in command was sleeping off another round of being shocked by the device, "And you have no idea how he caused it to activate?"  
  
"No Sir." That was another source of frustration for her. She had held the ball, turned and twisted and touched, and came up with nothing. Not even a bump in the night.  
  
"Is it safe to take back to PX7-388?" He wondered if that would end the power problems plaguing the base.  
  
"I don't know. I think so, but right now, with this...thing with Colonel O'Neill...I'm not sure that's a good idea."  
  
"Major, I'm not sure it's a good idea keeping it here with all that's going on with Colonel O'Neill." Hammond wasn't sure how many more times he could handle being effectively electrocuted.  
  
Carter agreed, "I understand Sir, but there's some link between the Colonel and this ball. I really believe we need to try and figure out what."  
  
"Doctor?" Hammond looked over at Doctor Frasier, needing more input before making a final decision.  
  
Fraiser looked at the papers Sam had given her. She could get the vital information she needed from it. "These levels aren't life-threatening Sir. Unpleasant, and potentially dangerous without medical treatment, but assuming every surge is at the level recorded at the last activation...it won't kill him."  
  
Daniel sat up straighter in his chair, "You can't be serious? Whatever this is, it's landed him in the infirmary twice. I don't think we should risk more." Normally Daniel would be arguing for every opportunity, but once his teammates were in danger, he was as up for tossing it out the window as anyone else, and right now he was thinking they should make the Stargate that very big window, and get that device as far from Jack as possible.  
  
"Daniel, we don't know what this is! It might be a map to an Ancient city...or a database for technology. We can't throw this away without trying to figure it out first." Carter argued, her blue eyes flashing.  
  
Hammond frowned deeper; he didn't like it when there wasn't a general consensus, "Teal'c?"  
  
Teal'c had been considering the events as they unfolded, concerned for O'Neill's safety, but curious as to the device and it's purpose. If it held the potential for a weapon against the Goa'uld, it wasn't something that should be discarded easily. "I believe we should study it further, but with much care, General Hammond."  
  
"This is unbelievable! Sam, Teal'c...this _device_ is harming Jack. What are you going to do if it kills him next time?"  
  
"Dr. Jackson!" Hammond warned, "Everyone in this room cares about Colonel O'Neill as much as you do."  
  
Daniel released air he had been holding; realizing antagonizing everyone wasn't going to help. Sometimes he couldn't hold back from voicing his disagreement, and he always had a hard time knowing when to stop.  
  
"I want it known that I think this is a bad idea." He finally said, staring hard at each one in turn.  
  
"So noted, Dr. Jackson." Hammond stood, "Get to work people." And the power dropped again, hitting home the annoying situation the SGC found itself in.  
  
"This is getting ridiculous." Janet snapped, waiting for the lights to come back up before trying to leave the briefing room.  
  
"Indeed." 


	5. Ancient Revelations

* * *

**Chapter 5 **

**Ancient Revelations**

* * *

Jack was counting the number of holes in the ceiling tile above his bed. He had woken a short while ago and felt fine....maybe not _fine_...but fine enough to leave the infirmary. Fraiser had shot his hopes down with an emphatic no. Something about being zapped twice and wanting to keep him for observation a little longer. He tuned her out around that part of the conversation, once he got the salient points.  
  
"You look bored."  
  
Jack turned his head away from the ceiling, in the general direction of Daniel's voice. "Daniel, there isn't a level of boredom more extreme than what I am."  
  
Daniel walked over, noting Jack's pale face, the soft fringes of hair poking into the pillow, and the general weak appearance of someone stuck in a bed. It didn't matter if a person was sick or not, you looked weak if you were in an infirmary bed. It was some law of nature.  
  
"How do you feel?" He asked, and slid into the customary chair. He knew Jack would hate it if he kept standing. It was bad enough for him to be confined to a bed, but to have his less-than ideal situation enforced by his friend's standing around him didn't help. Unless he was very sleepy and wore out, everyone knew you sat.  
  
Jack was going to make his usual flip comment but while Daniel had been studying him, he had done some studying of his own. Daniel looked exhausted, frustrated and...on edge. "Better." He said.  
  
"They think you can solve the ball puzzle." Daniel announced, suddenly, startling both himself and Jack.  
  
Jack rolled his head back in the direction of the ceiling, "I don't think so. I don't think it likes me."  
  
Daniel inwardly smiled, "It's your electric personality."  
  
"I've heard some bad puns in my life, but that takes the cake."  
  
"Sorry, couldn't resist." Daniel wasn't sorry- he was still smiling.  
  
"What do they want me to do?"  
  
His smile faltered, "When you touch it, activate it, or whatever it is you are doing, Sam can get readings."  
  
"They want me to get fried so Carter can get more _readings_?"  
  
"I think the hope is that you won't get _fried_."  
  
"Peachy."  
  
The conversation came to an abrupt stop when the lights groaned and blinked out. There was hollering and a generalized panic towards the hub of the infirmary. Jack couldn't hear exact words but he got the impression something was very wrong.  
  
They were in total darkness for seconds, which ticked into minutes. Daniel was becoming alarmed, both with whatever was happening in the other room and with the length of the power outage. The longer it remained down, the longer the base was susceptible. No power meant there was no iris.  
  
He could sense Jack moving on the bed, swinging his legs to the edge. He reached out, trying to keep him down but was too late. He encountered an arm but from the position that was higher than expected, he knew Jack was standing.  
  
"Where are you going?" He whispered.  
  
"To figure out what's happening." Jack hissed back.  
  
Daniel was going to argue but decided to go with him. He grabbed at Jack's arm, "I'm going with you."  
  
Jack didn't answer, he gripped Daniel's arm, and the two began to feel their way gingerly in the direction of the commotion.  
  
They were close. Jack could tell because he could clearly make out what was going on by the frantic conversation, and flashes of light. An SG member was losing his life. He tugged at Daniel's arm, and felt for the door. He could make out the path now that there was subdued lighting from the flashlights Fraiser must have had on hand.  
  
He recognized the man on the bed. Major Stevens of SG-7. His face was covered in blood. A white gauze pad wrapped around his head, his face all ready ghostly white from blood loss. Jack swallowed, standing there, hunched over from the discomfort in his body, but unable to do anything.  
  
Daniel was watching with horror. They were doing CPR in the weak battery powered light. Stevens's body jerked with each compression but remained lifeless. He saw Janet snap at a nurse, and wait for her reply. The nurse shook her head, defeated. Janet stopped compressions, and announced in a dreadful voice, "Time of death...what time is it?" She asked, frustrated.  
  
"1428 Doctor." The nurse had flashed the light against an old wind-up clock that had been brought in. All the battery-powered clocks were being affected by the same phenomena as the main and emergency power.  
  
"Thank you." Janet took one final look at the man lying on the bed. "Prepare him."  
  
It was at that point the power kicked on with a mighty groan, much louder than before. Jack winced, it sounded like things were getting worse. Much worse. The problem had claimed it's first casualty.  
  
This was his fault. He had brought the ball back. He had joked and called it a toy. His toy had killed the man lying feet from him.  
  
"Colonel!"  
  
Jack opened his eyes, unaware he had closed them in remorse. Fraiser was staring at him with surprise...and pity.  
  
"We heard..." Daniel started to explain, but couldn't finish.  
  
"I'm sorry." Jack said, gesturing helplessly at the body.  
  
Janet was guiding him back towards his bed before he could say Doc. Daniel followed. She helped him back into bed, pulling up his sheet, bothered by his lack of protest.  
  
"It wasn't your fault." She helped get the pillow settled.  
  
"Yes, it was." Jack didn't wait for Doc or Daniel to disagree, "Get Carter...and that ball. I want to figure this out."

* * *

An hour later SG-1, Doctor Fraiser and General Hammond had converged around Jack's bed, along with the troublesome device.  
  
"Are you sure about this Colonel?" General Hammond asked, concerned about all his people. He had been angry when he had learned of Stevens death, linked directly to the outage, his life support equipment crashing and the lapse of time from the power loss to direct support by personnel proving too much of a stress on his battered body. He had been brought in shortly before the last outage. There hadn't been time to stabilize his condition.  
  
"Yes." Jack answered, stone-faced.  
  
Hammond turned towards Carter, "Are you ready Major?"  
  
Sam nodded, "I've got a monitor that I rigged...well, kind of using the upstairs power Sir."  
  
"NORAD?" Daniel asked, surprised.  
  
Sam flushed, "Yes. Their power remains unaffected. Whatever is causing our trouble, it has a limited area of influence."  
  
Jack looked at the ball, "Ready Teal'c?"  
  
Teal'c was standing on Jack's left-hand side, a rubber rod from Sam's lab in his hand. "I am O'Neill."  
  
"Doc?"  
  
Janet nodded, not trusting herself to talk. She was as worried for him as anyone else. She hated having to patch them up time after time, only to have them wind up hurt and in her care again.  
  
He lifted it carefully, and rolled it in his palm, trying to figure out what it was he had done twice before. The patterns of the inscriptions began to mesmerize him. He ran over the etchings with his thumb, following a pattern instinctively. Seconds later the room was filled with an audible click, and the ball unfurled, sections peeling away like quarters of an orange, and flashing light began to strobe.  
  
"That's never happened before." Daniel stated.  
  
Sam was staring at Jack, confused, "Sir, what did you do?"  
  
Jack looked at them, "I don't know." He was as lost as they were.  
  
"Did you get that?" Carter asked Daniel, who had been watching Jack's movements with the ball. He nodded, still staring at the ball, which had begun to vibrate.  
  
"Uh...Jack?"  
  
"I don't know!" He said, clearly frustrated, not knowing if the ball was going to explode or turn purple.  
  
The vibrating increased, until the sections began to lift back, and snap in their original place. The vibrations, flashing light...it all stopped. The ball was back to lying quiet and innocent in Jack's hand.  
  
"What the...?" Jack didn't know whether to be relieved or angry.  
  
"Major?" Hammond looked questioningly at Carter, wanting answers.  
  
Sam looked as flustered as the rest of them, "I don't know General. If I had to guess, I'd say it reset itself."  
  
"Did you get the readings?" Janet wasn't anxious to repeat that anytime soon. She didn't know if they were all going to get blown up or what when it had started flashing.  
  
Sam turned around and looked at the laptop she had brought with her. "Looks like it. Wow." She studied the screen more intently, "That's odd."  
  
"What?" Daniel turned to look at what she was studying on the screen.  
  
"I expected the readings to be higher than this. They are lower than the last time the Colonel was shocked."  
  
"And that's a bad thing?" Jack said.  
  
"Uh...no Sir." Sam tapped a few more keys. "I need to go back to my lab and work on this General."  
  
Hammond nodded, "Good luck Major."  
  
"I will accompany Major Carter." Teal'c inclined his head towards Jack, "Do not get out of bed O'Neill." He ordered.  
  
Jack's mouth dropped open in surprise, staring at the Jaffa and at the big grin spreading across Janet's face. He snapped his jaw shut. Napoleonic didn't do her justice.  
  
"I'm fine." He finally said, to no one in particular. Teal'c and Carter were gone, along with Hammond, leaving Fraiser and Daniel beside him, as usual.  
  
"Not until I say you are. Now rest." She ordered and with a warning look, left him alone with Daniel.  
  
"What just happened?" He asked, slightly shell-shocked by how fast things had gone.  
  
"I think you've got some subconscious remnants from the Ancients." Daniel had seen the almost trance-like state Jack had fallen into while holding the ball.  
  
Jack didn't say anything but if his frown was anything to go by, he wasn't happy by the news. 


	6. The Unbelievable End

Author's Note: Sorry for the length between updates, we went camping and I didn't get this finished before. I want to thank those that took the time to review, you don't know how much feedback is appreciated!! As for being longer, this story was never meant to be that big, just a small and sweet little thing. I've got a really big one but that's Enterprise. I'll probably work on a larger SG-1 story in the future. I find Stargate more of a challenge to write than Enterprise, though I love both equally.

* * *

**Chapter 7 **

**The Unbelievable End**

* * *

"It's a toy." Carter announced.  
  
Shocked faces regarded her in disbelief. SG-1 was seated around the briefing table, accompanied by General Hammond.  
  
"Carter?" Jack questioned, wanting further explanation, his voice a low rumbling growl.  
  
Carter was sitting across from O'Neill; papers stacked in front, a pen held in one hand. "Sir, all the information I've gathered indicates that it's nothing more than a child's plaything. It doesn't appear to do anything...that I can see." She finished lamely.  
  
"I thought you said it wasn't a toy?" Jack said irritably. He had been released from the infirmary earlier that morning after spending a restless night, plagued with guilt over Stevens's death and the events in general since retrieving the object.  
  
Carter frowned, "I know. The thing is, I don't even know for certain that it is a toy, but if I had to take an educated guess...which is all we have at this time, then I would say that's all this device is."  
  
Hammond leaned back in his chair, "Major, your educated guesses are usually right."  
  
Carter smiled wanly at the compliment, "Thank you Sir."  
  
Hammond turned his commanding look on Daniel, "Dr. Jackson, were you able to make further progress on the inscriptions."  
  
Daniel shook his head, "Not really. It's probably easier to tell you what we do know." He opened the file in front of him, "I compared the inscriptions to previous data and though I found specific letters that coincide, they seem to be in a random order on the object's surface, amounting to nothing intelligible."  
  
"So it doesn't say anything?" Jack simplified.  
  
"Uh, yeah, basically. It's like taking our alphabet and writing letters in no particular order. Its just letters, not words."  
  
"What would be the reason for such a device as this?" Teal'c asked.  
  
"A rubiks cube." Jack answered.  
  
"Jack?" Daniel looked like Jack had maybe been shocked one time to many.  
  
"A rubiks cube." He enunciated clearly, "A puzzle. You do it wrong and it shocks you, like training a rat in a maze...do it right..."  
  
"...And you get rewarded with the flashing lights and opening of the ball." Carter finished, surprised at O'Neill's insight.  
  
"That doesn't explain why it keeps bringing power down." Hammond seemed mildly flummoxed by the recent turn of the briefing.  
  
"I think that's more of an issue with the Ancient technology being so different from our own. I don't believe it's meant to do that. More of a..."  
  
"...Side effect?" Daniel interrupted.  
  
Sam nodded. "Exactly."  
  
"Is there any way of containing this device without suffering from these...side effects?"  
  
"I don't think so General. And further, if we try to remove it from the base and ship it elsewhere it could cause widespread havoc with communications and civilian systems." Sam hated the thought of what she was going to say next, "I recommend we return the object to PX7-388."  
  
Hammond considered her recommendation then observed those sitting around the table, each seemed resolved for his decision, "Very well. SG-1, be ready to ship out in two hours. The sooner we get this device out of here the better." The groaning of the mechanical systems dropping everywhere further brought his words home.  
  
"Yes Sir." Jack agreed.

* * *

The wormhole snapped shut behind Teal'c, the last member of SG-1 to gate onto PX7-388. Jack, Daniel and Sam had all ready spread out, observing their surroundings with practiced care.  
  
"Shouldn't we send this to one of the System Lords, a present from the _Tauri_?" O'Neill cracked, thinking of the power fluctuations wreaking havoc aboard a mother ship.  
  
"What if we're wrong?" Daniel grimaced, pulling a barbed blade of grass out of his leg.  
  
Jack was watching him, "True." He said, then turned towards Carter and Teal'c who were conversing quietly behind them, "Ready kids?"  
  
"Always." Carter moved into position, and the team headed towards the pole, Carter leading, followed by Daniel and Jack with Teal'c guarding the rear.  
  
They had walked in companionable silence for a while, the tip of the pole peeking above the horizon, a compass beckoning them ahead. Daniel had spent the time studying Jack, seeing the signs that he was partaking in the usual self-recriminations over recent events.  
  
Making up his mind, he slowed his pace, letting the gap between him and Jack shorten. "It wasn't your fault." He said low, to keep their conversation private. He saw out of the corner of his eye that Sam had naturally quickened hers and Teal'c slowed his, leaving them with some form of privacy.  
  
Jack speared Daniel with a hard gaze, "Why isn't it?"  
  
"Because you can't see the future. Because you aren't all-knowing and you aren't responsible for everything that goes wrong."  
  
"Daniel, I treated the object like it was harmless."  
  
"It was...essentially."  
  
"Then why is Stevens dead?"  
  
Daniel stopped, causing Jack to as well, "Because it was a miserable chain of events that led to him being in the wrong place at the wrong time. You didn't gate to PX6-284 and cause Stevens to get ambushed by a group of Jaffa. You didn't power down the base. You are the only reason why Sam was able to figure anything out!" He finished angrily.  
  
Jack opened his mouth to reply then snapped it shut. He knew Daniel was right. He wasn't any more to blame than anything else but that was almost as hard to accept as responsibility. It scared him, not being able to find fault with anyone or anything for losing a person. It did boil down to a series of random unfortunate events. Fate, bad luck, or whatever you wanted to call it.  
  
"I wish I could blame someone." He finally replied quietly.  
  
"I know."  
  
Jack looked ahead, at Carter fidgeting uncomfortably ahead, having caught most of the conversation, at the pole and the waving grass. It wasn't anyone's fault...he had to accept that. Life would go on...probably more people would die, more people he couldn't save. It was hard accepting the limited resources they had at hand to prevent tragedies.  
  
He turned back to face Daniel, "Thanks."  
  
"For what?"  
  
"For being here. For making a difference."  
  
Daniel was surprised to see the rare vulnerability of his friend, "We all make a difference Jack, you're to busy beating yourself up to see it."  
  
"Probably." Jack straightened his pack on his shoulders; realigning the burden both physically and mentally, "Let's get this over with."  
  
THE END 


End file.
